Clothes hanger



Dec. 26, 1950 r. H. RIDDELL 2,535,503

CLOTHES HANGER v Filed March 8, 1948 Patented Dec. 26, 1950 OFFICECLOTHES HANGER Thomas Henry Riddell, North Sydney, New South Wales,Australia Application March 8, 1948, Serial No. 13,591 In AustraliaApril 3, 1947 3 Claims. 1

This invention relates to clothes hangers and particularly to skirthangers.

The object of the invention is to provide a clothes han er, the lengthof which may be readily adiusted to receive articles of clothing, suchas skirts, of various sizes.

Another object is to provide means whereby the length of the hanger maybe readily maintained at any value to which it is adjusted.

The invention therefore is a clothes hanger including an open ended railwhich is hollow at least adiacent to its ends, angle members eachcomprising an approximately horizontal part and a part dependingdownwardly and outwardly approximately at right angles to the horizontalpart, the horizontal parts of the respective angle members being adaptedto fit slidably and rotatably in the ends of the rail and resilientlycontrolled frictional means enclosing each angle member adjacent to eachend of the rail for retaining the horizontal parts of the angle membersin any desired position within the rail.

Two forms of the invention will now be described with reference to thedrawings in which:

Fig. l is a perspective view of a skirt hanger according to one form ofthe invention;

Fig. 2 is an enlarged fragmental perspective view of part of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is an enlarged fragmental elevation of part of a skirt hangeraccording to another form of the invention.

Referring first to Figs. 1 and 2, the skirt hanger comprises generally asleeve, tube, rail or main member 4 constructed preferably of metal orother resilient material, angle members 5 and a book 5.

The sleeve 4 is hollow cylindrical and has diametral slits i formed onein each end and extending inwardly for a short distance. Each member 5has a part 8 located slidably and rotatably within an end of the sleeveand a part 9 extending approximately at right angles to the part 8.

In use the part 9 extends downwardly and is shaped to receive, when inthis position, the waist band and hip portion of a skirt.

To vary the distance between the parts 9 to accommodate skirts ofvarious sizes, the parts 8 of the member 5 are displaced axially withinthe sleeve.

This displacement takes place against the friction between the parts 8and the interior of the sleeve and this friction retains each member 5in any position to which its part 8 is adjusted within the sleeve. Thefriction is maintained and controlled by circular spring clips [0located on and closely surrounding the sleeve adjacent to its respectiveends. Any tendency for the parts 8 to fit loosely within the tube due towear or other factors is counteracted by the respective clips forcingthe two parts II at each split end of the sleeve towards each other andagainst the part 8.

Referring to Fig. 3 the clips are dispensed with and the sleeve is notsplit at its ends. Instead a closely coiled helical spring I2 isemployed. One end E3 of the spring when undistorted is of largerdiameter than the other end l4 when undistorted. The end I3 i made apress fit on the end of the sleeve 4 and the end 14 extends beyond theend of the sleeve 4 and closely surrounds the part 8 of the member 5.The part 8 is located as before within the sleeve 4.

To displace the parts 8 axially within the sleeve to vary the seeing ofthe members 5 the friction between the parts 8 and M, which isaccentuated by the resilience of Hi, must be overcome. When the requireddisplacement has been made, the friction maintains the part 8 in therequired position.

Alternatively a short sleeve secured on the outside of the end of thesleeve 4 may be substituted for the end I3 of the spring l2, the end Mof the spring being secured to the outer end of the short sleeve.

The hook 6 is secured to the sleeve 4 in known manner midway along thelength of the sleeve.

It will be clear to those skilled in the art that only the end portionsof the sleeve 4 need be hollow. The remainder may be solid and may beshaped so that it may be used, for example, as a coat hanger and, bymeans of the movable members 5, provision may be made for a small rangeof coat sizes.

In the claims, for convenience, the parts of the angle members have beenreferred to with reference to their position when the clothes hanger issuspended by its hook with the sleeve approximately horizontal.

Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my saidinvention and in what manner the same is to be performed I declare thatwhat I claim is:

1. A clothes hanger including an open ended rail which is hollow atleast adjacent to its ends, angle members each comprising anapproximately horizontal part and a part depending downwardly andoutwardly approximately at right angles to the horizontal part, thehorizontal parts of the respective angle members 3 being adapted to fitslidably and rotatably in the ends of the rail and resilientlycontrolled frictional means enclosing each angle member adjacent to eachend of the rail for retaining the horizontal parts of the angle membersin any desired position within the rail.

2. A clothes hanger including an open ended rail which is hollow and issplit approximately axially at least adjacent to its end portions, anglemembers each comprising an approxi mately horizontal part and a partdepending downwardly and outwardly approximately at right angles to thehorizontal part, the horizontal parts of the respective angle membersbeing adapted to fit closely but slidably and rotatably in the splitends of the rail and curved spring clips closely engaging the respectivesplit ends and pressing the parts of the split ends towards each otherand against the horizontal parts of the angle members.

3. A clothes hanger including an open ended rail which is hollow atleast adjacent to its ends, angle members each comprising anapproximately horizontal part and a part depending downwardly andoutwardly approlximately at right angles to the horizontal part, ahelical spring secured to each end of the rail and extending outwardlyfrom said rail end, the horizontal parts of the angle members beingadapted to fit slidably and rotatably in the ends of the rail and to fitclosely but slidably and rotatably within the outer ends of therespective springs.

THOMAS HENRY RIDDELL.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 2,063,767 Spencer Dec. 8, 19362,148,688 Freise Feb. 28, 1939 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date220,423 Great Britain Aug. 21, 1924

